Chinese President Xi Jinping is escalating a nationwide crackdown on underground Christian churches as Beijing seeks to tighten Communist Party control over religious life, according to a report published Sunday in The Telegraph detailing arrests, detentions, and allegations of religious persecution across the country.

The report includes accounts from Chinese Christians, pastors, and religious freedom advocates who say authorities have intensified raids on unregistered churches, detained worshippers, and targeted lawyers defending those accused of religious offenses.

Among those interviewed was a Christian identified only as "TJ," who said police officers forced their way into his home during a nighttime raid, separated him from his wife and 3-year-old daughter, and interrogated him over his participation in an underground church.

"They grabbed my clothes and grabbed my hands so I couldn't move. I could hear my daughter crying so much in the room next door but I couldn't go to her," TJ told the newspaper. His wife remains in custody, according to the report.

China officially recognizes five religions, including Protestantism and Catholicism, but requires believers to worship through state-approved religious organizations that operate under Communist Party oversight.

Christians who attend independent, or "house," churches risk criminal prosecution and detention, according to religious freedom advocates.

Bob Fu, founder of the U.S.-based advocacy group ChinaAid, told the newspaper that more than 10,000 Christians have been arrested during Xi's tenure as authorities intensified efforts to suppress unauthorized religious activity.

"It's the emperor playing God," Fu said. "[Xi] wants to be exclusive. He doesn't want to have anything treated or worshipped more superior than him."

The report highlights recent raids against the Early Rain Covenant Church and Beijing's Zion Church, two of China's best-known underground congregations.

Jun Yang, a pastor with Zion Church, said authorities had investigated church finances for months before arresting nearly 30 members, including church leader Ezra Jin Mingri and Yang's wife, during raids last October.

"They were trying to look for excuses to see if they could set a trap for me," Yang said, alleging police questioned church members about donations in an effort to build corruption charges.

Yang said he was outside China when police detained his wife in front of their children and now believes returning home would lead to his own arrest.

"I am on the wanted list of religious practitioners so if I return to China I would be arrested," he said.

The report says many detainees initially faced charges related to the "illegal use of information networks" before prosecutors substituted more serious allegations — including fraud or "using superstition to undermine the law," offenses that can carry lengthy prison terms.

Attorneys representing Christians have also reportedly faced professional retaliation, including suspension or revocation of their legal licenses.

The crackdown follows Xi's "Sinicization" campaign, launched in 2015, which requires religious organizations to align their teachings with Communist Party ideology while placing loyalty to the state above religious doctrine. The policy has also been applied to other religious minorities, including Uyghur Muslims in China's Xinjiang region.

According to the report, an estimated 44 million people worship at state-approved churches in China, while roughly 115 million Christians practice outside the official system.

Responding to the allegations, a spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in the United Kingdom said the government administers religious affairs "in accordance with the law" and accused "anti-China forces" of using claims of religious freedom violations to spread misinformation.

The embassy also maintained that Chinese courts handle criminal cases "strictly in accordance with the law" while safeguarding the legal rights of defendants throughout judicial proceedings.